The Vedantic Relationality of Rabindranath Tagore

The Vedantic Relationality of Rabindranath Tagore
Author: Ankur Barua
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2018-10-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1498586236

This book is a thematic study of the poet-thinker Rabindranath Tagore’s conceptual project of harmonizing the one and its many. Tagore’s writings, in Bengali and in English, on religious and social themes are held together by the leitmotif of a “harmony” which operates across several existential, religious, and social polarities – the finite and the infinite, the temporal and the eternal, and the individual and the universal. Tagore creatively appropriated materials from diverse sources such as the classical Hindu Vedāntic systems, the folk piety of Bengal, and others, to configure a dialectic which shapes his writings on both religious and social themes. On the one hand, each individual is irreducibly distinct from everyone else, and, on the other hand, each individual gains their spiritual depth precisely by being placed within the dynamic matrices of an interrelated whole. Thus, we find Tagore rejecting certain monastic forms of Hindu world-renunciation and also certain ecstatic dimensions of devotional worship – the former because they efface individuality and the latter because they can generate self-absorbed styles of living. Again, Tagore is as sharply opposed to Bengali imitativeness of English modes of being in the world as he is to Bengali forms of insularity – the former because it dilutes the concrete richness of indigenous lifeforms and the latter because it confines individuals to parochial enclosures. Tagore’s life-long endeavor was to configure a “third way” by rejecting both the blank homogeneity of an undifferentiated one and the particularistic insularities of a multitude without a deeper center of coherence.

Vedanta and Tagore

Vedanta and Tagore
Author: Bhabani Charan Mukherji
Publisher: M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd.
Total Pages: 120
Release: 1994
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9788185880426

In this book Vedanta and Tagore the author has shown that Tagore's poems, especially songs are just a beautiful way of vedantic teaching which directly touches the most sensitive chords of human heart and thus sinks into its consciousness more deeply and intimately than any prose commentary or apperciation possibly can.

Relationships

Relationships
Author: Rabindranath Tagore
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2006
Genre: Bengal (India)
ISBN: 9780195686784

This is the fifth volume within the Oxford India Translations series, and this time it is a novel, written nearly eight years ago by Rabindranath Tagore, representing a society which existed some hundred years ago. The novel is a self-evaluation of the Bengali bourgeoisie, and an analysis of human relations and personalities.

The Religion of Man

The Religion of Man
Author: Rabindranath Tagore
Publisher: Monkfish Book Publishing
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2022-02-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 194862656X

The Religion of Man (1931) is a compilation of lectures by Rabindranath Tagore, edited by Tagore and drawn largely from his Hibbert Lectures given at Oxford University in May 1930. A Brahmo playwright and poet of global renown, Tagore deals with the universal themes of God, divine experience, illumination, and spirituality. A brief conversation between him and Albert Einstein, "Note on the Nature of Reality", is included as an appendix.

Gandhi and Rajchandra

Gandhi and Rajchandra
Author: Uma Majmudar
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 147
Release: 2020-08-20
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1793612005

Mahatma Gandhi, one of the greatest influencers in the world, was himself influenced by trailblazing thinkers and writers like Tolstoy, Ruskin, Thoreau, and others—each one contributing significantly to his moral and spiritual development. Yet only a few people know the most consequential person to have played a pivotal role in the making of the Mahatma: Shrimad Rajchandra. About the unparalleled influence of this person, Gandhi himself wrote: “I have met many a religious leader or teacher… and I must say that no one else ever made on me the impression that Raychandbhai did.” Uma Majmudar, digging deep into the original Gujarati writings of both Gandhi and Rajchandra, explores this important relationship and unfolds the unique impact of Rajchandra’s teachings and contributions upon Gandhi. The volume examines the contents and significance of their intimate spiritual discussions, letters, questions and answers. In this book, Dr. Majmudar brings to the forefront the scarcely known but critically important facts of how Rajchandra “molded Gandhi’s inner self, his character, his life, thoughts and actions.” This Jain zaveri (jeweller)-cum-spiritual seeker became Gandhi’s most trusted friend, as well as an exemplary mentor and “refuge in spiritual crisis.”

The Philosophy of Sri Chinmoy

The Philosophy of Sri Chinmoy
Author: Kusumita P. Pedersen
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2021-06-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1793618992

This is the first book-length study of the thought of Sri Chinmoy (1931-2007), who became well known during his lifetime as the exponent of a dynamic spirituality of integral transformation, which he set forth in an extensive body of writings in both prose and poetry, mostly in English but also in his native Bengali. He held that all fields of human endeavor can be venues of spiritual transformation when founded in aspiration and contemplative practice. He is noted not only as a spiritual teacher but also as an advocate of peace, a composer and musician, an artist and a sportsman who created innovative programs promoting self-transcendence and understanding between people of all cultures and walks of life. This study of Sri Chinmoy’s philosophy refers to these diverse activities, especially in the biographical first chapter, but is mainly based on his written works. The book’s aim is to give to the reader a straightforward and unembroidered account of Sri Chinmoy’s philosophy. It makes every attempt to allow Sri Chinmoy to speak for himself in his own words, and thus provides ample quotation and draws on his poetic works as much as on his other writings.

The Politics and Promise of Yoga

The Politics and Promise of Yoga
Author: Anjali Kanojia
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2022-10-17
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN: 1498599354

Yoga is many things to many people. However, the basics of yoga are worth understanding given its popularity and the benefits of the practice. This includes understanding yoga's roots, its origins, its development within and outside India as well as the research involving yoga as an integrative therapeutic modality. The author introduces the topic of yoga to healthcare officials, practitioners, skeptics, and a range of curious people in between. For yoga practitioners and those interested in the practice, The Politics and Promise of Yoga: Contemporary Relevance of an Ancient Practice outlines a condensed view of traditional yoga practices and provides a glimpse into the origin of yoga within Indian history and philosophy. The author hopes that policymakers will be interested in this evidence-based scientific practice so that it can be systematically incorporated into mainstream biomedical systems around the globe. This book also serves to confirm existing knowledge and historical nuances about yoga and also addresses contemporary debates and politics which revolve around the practice.

Thinking with the Yoga Sutra of Patañjali

Thinking with the Yoga Sutra of Patañjali
Author: Christopher Key Chapple
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2019-05-20
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1498570976

This book presents contemporary scholarship on the Yoga Sūtra. It revisits Patañjali’s philosophy by bringing it into dialogue with contemporary concerns across a variety of topics and perspectives. Questions regarding the role of the body in the practice of classical yoga, the debate between the realistic or idealistic interpretation of the text, the relation between Yoga and other Indian philosophical schools, the use of imagination in the pursuit of self-knowledge, the interplay between consciousness and nature, the possibilities and limitations of using it as a therapeutic philosophy, the science of meditation, and overcoming our fear of death probe the many dimensions that this text continues to offer for thought and reflection.

Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda
Author: Rita D. Sherma
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 293
Release: 2021-01-11
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1498586058

With historical-critical analysis and dialogical even-handedness, the essays of this book re-assess the life and legacy of Swami Vivekananda, forged at a time of colonial suppression, from the vantage point of socially-engaged religion at a time of global dislocations and international inequities. Due to the complexity of Vivekananda as a historical figure on the cusp of late modernity with its vast transformations, few works offer a contemporary, multi-vocal, nuanced, academic examination of his liberative vision and legacy in the way that this volume does. It brings together North American, European, British, and Indian scholars associated with a broad array of humanistic disciplines towards critical-constructive, contextually-sensitive reflections on one of the most important thinkers and theologians of the modern era.